March 2020

n TECHNOLOGY 16 March 2020 www.drivesncontrols.com A BRITISH START-UP company is developing a modular collaborative robot (cobot) that can be adapted, by adding or removing extension modules, to handle a variety of payloads and reaches. Guildford-based Inovo Robotics is targeting, in particular, SME manufacturers with limited production runs, which may need to reconfigure their robotic systems from one production run to another. The modular design means that users can adapt the robot to suit an application simply by adding or removing extension modules in the arms. So, for example, by adding two expansion modules to an arm capable of handling 10kg payloads with a reach of 650mm, it can be extended to provide a reach of 1.3m, but with a 3kg payload capacity. The number of axes can also be varied from two to 12 to suit the application, with six being used in a typical configuration. The Inovo arm has a repeatability of ±0.25mm and a tool speed of up to 1m/s, depending on the configuration. The IP54- protected arm weighs around 24kg and has a 190mm-diameter footprint. There are 15 safety functions built in and torque-sensing in the joints is used to detect any collisions. The robot uses an external controller with eight inputs and eight 2A, 24V outputs, as well as two inputs and outputs at the tool. Inovo is talking to a controls manufacturer about possibly adopting an EtherCat-based slice I/O design which would allow more I/O to be mounted on a rail. The company has attracted £1.5m of funding from the Williams Formula 1 team’s investment arm and £180,000 from Innovate UK. It is looking to raise a further £2-4m to take its system to market. Innovo was founded by a pair of engineers, Jon Cheung and Henry Wood, who met when they were working together on a bomb disposal robot. They felt that there was a need for an adaptable robot that was not being met by existing robot suppliers which were mainly targeting mass- production applications. “There’s a lack of good robots for batch applications that may only run a few weeks,” Wood explains. He believes that the potential market for robots tailored to handle these batch duties is “huge”. As well as being reconfigurable, the Inovo robot has been designed to be easy to program (and reprogram) by non-experts using drag-and-drop software techniques. At present, the robot is being trialled in a pilot installation at a logistics company whose operations and workloads change seasonally, requiring it to take on expensive agency staff from time to time. The reconfigurable cobot will allow it to use automation to adapt to its changing demands. Inovo is hoping to launch its cobot commercially later this year. It is expected to cost less than £20,000. It will be competing with cobots such as Universal Robots’ UR5 model but, as Wood points out, adding a £1,000 extension tube with a quick-release coupling will give it a similar reach to Universal Robots’ UR10 arm. www.inovorobotics.com UK-developed reconfigurable cobot targets batch applications at SMEs WRIGHT ELECTRIC, the US aircraft developer which is designing an 186-seat all-electric passenger plane, has announced plans to develop a 1.5MW motor and 3kV inverter to power the craft. EasyJet is partnering Wright in the project, which aims to put the plane, called Wright 1, into service from 2030. Wright has also announced that it is working with BAE Systems to accelerate the development of key technologies needed for the zero-emission plane. BAE will focus on flight controls and energy management systems for the aircraft. Wright plans to conduct ground tests on the new motor in 2021, before starting flight tests on an adapted aircraft in 2023. It will simultaneously be working on the aircraft’s fuselage to improve its aerodynamics. Wright previewed its new motor at an event in New York in January. Several of the motors will be attached to each wing. The aircraft will be powered using swappable battery packs which will sustain it for flights of up to two hours. As well as eliminating emissions, Wright says that the planes will be cheaper to operate and will make less noise than conventional craft. Speaking at the event, the company’s CEO, Jeffrey Engler, said: “Wright Electric’s mission is to make commercial aviation greener, and our megawatt engine programme is the next step in making our mission a reality.” Wright was founded in 2016 by a team of aerospace engineers, powertrain experts, and battery chemists. www.weflywright.com Inovo Robotics co-founder HenryWood at the recent SouthernManufacturing exhibition where he was demonstrating the robot assembling rows of “dominoes”before knocking themover Work starts on 1.5MW motor to power EasyJet’s 186-seater electric plane TheWright/EasyJet electric plane will be powered by 1.5MWmotors and is due to enter service in 2030. Image:Wright Electric